by Scott McNealy
A slower start than hoped for on Thursday and Friday led to a major charge up the leaderboard for Maverick on the weekend. His last 27 holes had him eight under par. Not sure anyone was better. But time ran out and he secured his best ever finish on the PGA Tour with a t5 finish. And the second best round of the day at 68 on a cool and blustery day that showed why Pebble Beach as a major tournament venue.
The excitement was off the charts. A birdie on his second hole of the day on the 11th got things going. But birdies were hard to come by everywhere. In fact, finding the greens with the wind, firm surfaces, and very fast greens was beyond challenging. Short game and especially putting became paramount. And Maverick saved par numerous times with what he called “easily my best round of putting ever.” Quite a statement from what I consider to be one of the top putters on Tour.
Par save after par save let to a monster drive on the Par 5 second (his 11th hole). A long iron to the back of the green set up this eagle putt.
And later, he drained this putt on the par 3 7th hole. Epic deuce on an epic hole.
This final putt was maybe his most rewarding. A bogey free round in those conditions was truly incredible.
A week off. Then he heads to Puerto Rico and then to Florida for the swing through the Sunshine State.
Thanks to Maverick for all of the thrills and birdies. And especially to all of you out there supporting him and his quest to raise $1m for www.birdiesforeducation.com
I am going to stand down from blogging for a while. Back to my day job making a difference in K12 education with Curriki.
Scott